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E46 (1999 - 2006) The fourth generation 3 Series (E46 chassis) was introduced in 1999 and set the standard for engineering and performance during it's years of production including being named to Car & Driver's 10 best list every one of those years! ! -- View the E46 Wiki

Pure and simple this is one experience that I am sure will lift some eyebrows.

Most of you that know me know that I am firmly planted in Florida. I have lived at various locations up north, in the west and throughout Europe so I know cold and snow, I just don't like it any more..prefer shorts and flip-flops. So when it came time to re-up on tires I went with a summer type tire, ContiExtremeContact. These tires hug the road like a slot car. Dry, wet and standing water, they do very well overall and I am extremely pleased by there performance, and even more so after you learn what I am going to tell you.

So recently I had to travel for business and found myself on an interstate that was just closed behind me because of a winter blizzard. The only thing moving on those mountain roads were snow plows and an occasional tractor trailer and here I am on summer type tires.

Well the long and the short of itů.onward ho. Albeit with caution I was still passing everything on the road until the snow got so deep that only 1 lane was open and that one time I tried to pass a State Trooper who threw the lights on to dissuade me, which he did.

The bottom line is ContiExtremeContact appear to be excellent in the snow.

The ContiExtremeContact is still considered an all-season tire. It is NOT a summer-only tire. I can almost guarantee your results would have been much different if you were riding on a summer-only tire.

Glad you made it through without issue and glad you are happy with that tire - I have heard good things about them.

The ContiExtremeContact is still considered an all-season tire. It is NOT a summer-only tire. I can almost guarantee your results would have been much different if you were riding on a summer-only tire.
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

With Summer tires, the rubber compound typically hardens in consistency when the ambient temps drop down below 40 degrees, making them unpredictable....not good....

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The ContiExtremeContact is still considered an all-season tire. It is NOT a summer-only tire. I can almost guarantee your results would have been much different if you were riding on a summer-only tire.

Glad you made it through without issue and glad you are happy with that tire - I have heard good things about them.

I have the DW not the DWS. It helped that the car was loaded to the max and a million plus miles under my belt.

There are 2 versions of this tire. The Extreme contact DW is the summer only version. The Extreme contact DWS is the all season version. You must have the DWS, because I have the contact summer only tires and my car gets stuck on a few flakes in the winter. I only made that mistake once, and the car stays in the garage in the winter now.

There are 2 versions of this tire. The Extreme contact DW is the summer only version. The Extreme contact DWS is the all season version. You must have the DWS, because I have the contact summer only tires and my car gets stuck on a few flakes in the winter. I only made that mistake once, and the car stays in the garage in the winter now.

I used to have the DW's, tragic in the snow. DWS, OK in the snow.... enough to get around but not much else. That first pic looks like pretty darn light snow to me.

I knew there would be one of these comments.

Ten minutes later and for the next 3 hours is was less than 50 visibility with to total accumulation of over three feet. Didn't dare take my concentration away to take a picture in those conditions. The car was sliding on the undercarrage and the traction control going off like a dot matrix printer until I turned it off.

The main point is, the DW tire performed surprisingly well under those conditions. However this is not an endorsement of DW for winter driving. The car was loaded to max which helped.